


The Paths We Walk

by knitsforthetrail



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fighting, M/M, Magic, Minami is his protege, Minor Character Death, Prince Victor Nikiforov, Swordfighting, Weapons, Yuuri is a hunter, be warned there is fighting but I do not describe the gore in detail, bigbangonice2018, death mention, dragon!victor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 05:26:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13675161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitsforthetrail/pseuds/knitsforthetrail
Summary: Do I dare Disturb the universe?In a minute there is timeFor decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.-The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. ElliotWritten for the Big Bang on Ice





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first long fic so hopefully it turns out okay! Let me know if there are any typos or grammar issues!  
> A huge thank you to my beta Captain_Winter  
> And check out the lovely art done for this story by Le [(purefake)](http://purefake.tumblr.com/)

The goblet clattered harmlessly against the tile, several feet from where Yakov stood, and Victor bit back a frustrated sob. He lunged for the door again but with a flick of her hand, the sorceress cast a spell freezing Victor where he stood. There was no way he could defend himself now.

“Yakov, please…”

Yakov closed the distance between them in a few strides, “This is for your own good Vitya. Your childish behavior has gone on too long. It’s time you learned your lesson.”

“I have! I’ve learned! You don’t need to do this!”

“Then what is it!” His face had turned a shocking shade of burgundy, “What was the lesson?”

“My… behaviour? Is wrong.” Yakov rolled his eyes. “And...and I apologize?...For that.” 

Yakov turned and walked toward the door.

“Yakov, no, don’t leave me like this!”

“You need to learn Victor, your actions have consequences reaching much further than the council room.” Yakov tossed over his shoulder, then calmly left, leaving the sorceress and Victor alone in his chambers.

She stalked out of sight behind him, ignoring the whimpers of the crown prince. Placing one hand on his head and one on his back she whispered, “Do not worry, this will be painless,” Her voice dripped like honey, clouding his thoughts and blurring the room before him, “Come find me when you think you’re ready.” A tingling sensation surrounded him before the room faded, leaving him in a deep slumber.

 

The smell of lavender filled his nose, rousing Victor from his slumber and overcoming all his senses. It smelled suspiciously like Chris’s favorite perfume, imported from the Canary Isles. Eyes still closed, he yelled out, “Chris get out of here! I’m in no mood for your chiding!” but nothing happened. No sound came out. Victor’s eyes shot open as his hand went up to his throat. It took a minute for his vision to clear in the bright sunlight and Victor felt a cloud of panic settle over him.

The cobblestone walls and crimson bedsheets of his room had been replaced with a wide stretch of blue sky, the tinkling of a running stream, and unending fields of lavender swaying in the breeze. He sat up, breath coming quick but unable to scream for someone, anyone, to ask what the hell was happening! He clawed frantically at his throat and mouth, still panicking too much to notice what else was amiss. Victor tried to stand up, but fell over and tumbled down into the lavender once more.

He lay there, catching his breath, staring up at the blue sky. Suddenly it came back to him, in bits and pieces he remembered the events of the previous night: the sorceress, the fight with Yakov, then everything going black. Rage at the evil enchantress tore through him, turning his panic into anger, and he tried to stand only for his legs to collapse under his body. Unable to get to his feet, Victor dragged himself to the stream.

Leaning over the edge, he leapt back at the reflection of a great beast staring up at him. Silent scream on his lips, he whipped his head around frantically, only to find nothing behind him. Slowly creeping up to the stream again, he peered into the water. The monster was still there, scaly nose and glowing eyes and all. He tilted his head, and watched the monster do the same. He stuck out his tongue, with the same result. He raised a shaky hand to his face and saw to his dismay that it was no longer a hand, but a mighty paw with long claws in place of fingers.

The sorceress had turned him into a beast, scaly and awkward and terrifying. He sidled up to the stream to get a better look at himself and gasped. In his place stood a mighty dragon! A little on the small side, he was covered head to foot in glittering white scales, wings folded against his back, and a long smooth tail, spiked at the end. The only feature that hadn’t changed was the color of his eyes, still the same piercing blue as always. Still in disbelief, he shook his tail and flapped his wings.

New muscles he’d never been aware of before acted up, spreading the appendages upwards towards the sky. In a quick movement, he brought them whooshing down, slapping the water on one side. The sound was magnificent, startling a flock of wild quail and sending a gust of wind rippling through the lavender. He had to admit, despite the less than favorable circumstances, he looked pretty cool! He folded his wings back up, saving the flying lessons for later, and looked at his reflection again. He tried to emulate the beastly roar dragons were known for, and the resulting roar nearly knocked him off his feet. The soundwave sent giant ripples through the water. The sound echoed through the clearing, then everything went dead silent, all creatures scared shitless. When the water cleared he got an impressive view of razor-sharp fangs.

The sight of them reminded him that he would no longer be Victor in the eyes of people; he was a monster, and monsters were often hunted and killed. The panic from before bubbled up to the surface, images of pitchforks and storms of arrows filling his vision. He knew too well the fate in store for him, he had been on the other side of the hunt enough times in his life.

Victor’s first step would be to get out of the open and find a place safe enough to protect him from any incoming attacks. Still getting used to walking on all fours, Victor stumbled through the lavender bushes and headed towards the closest outcropping of trees. The most logical course of action would be to get back to the castle, but he had no idea where he was, much less the location of his home. Plus, he wasn’t sure what Yakov would have waiting for him there anyway. Picking a random direction, Victor ambled off into the woods, leaving behind the clearing he woke up in.

He crashed through the underbrush, small woodland animals running away from him left and right. Victor watched in envy as an elk gracefully sprang through the trees, but his attempts to copy the animal resulted in him sprawled in the mud. Not even the birds dared to keep him company, and the forest surrounding him quickly became eerily quiet.

By the time the sky was getting dark, Victor’s stomach was feeling empty and his feet were sore. He had come across a stream and chose to follow it for a while, hoping it might lead to one of the inhabited lakes in his kingdom. He began to think of where he might sleep as he walked on, wincing at the thought of sleeping on the ground again. He didn’t notice the dark storm clouds filling the sky until it was too late. The sky opened on him, starting with a drizzle that quickly turned into a downpour.

Victor gave up traveling in favor of finding a dry place to wait out the storm. Leaving the river, he tripped over a bush and rolled down the embankment, coming to a stop in a dense patch of wild rose bushes. Their thorns hooked onto the exposed skin of his stomach and under his arms, the vines wrapping about him in his struggling. Not bothering to hide his pain, Victor roared loudly as he pulled himself out of the thorns, limping away from the bushes.

With no hands, he couldn’t pull out the thorns and treat his wounds, so he focused his attention back on finding shelter for the night. By the time he settled down in a dense patch of trees, he was thoroughly soaked and chilled to the bone. His failed attempt at breathing fire left him in low spirits, and he dozed off that night cold and in pain, crying himself to sleep.

The next morning Victor rose with the sun, his back aching with pain from the thorn bushes the previous night. The soft light of the sun peeked through the leaves of the trees overhead, casting the forest in a tranquil lighting. In the chaos of the storm he had lost the stream he had been following earlier. Feeling lost and out of place, he swallowed the growing lump in his throat. He could no longer ignore the low growling in his stomach. He walked towards the sunrise, making sure to keep an eye out for any source of food he might happen upon.

As the second day wore on with nothing else to think about, his mind turned to those he missed at the palace. Chris would have noticed his absence first, being the one to always drag Victor out of bed every morning. He would have gone straight to Yuri. Would he be worried? Probably not at first. Yuri would probably think Victor ran off and got drunk again. The two of them would probably search the city if he didn’t show up by dinner, possibly enlisting the help of Mila and Georgi. Eventually, though, they’d go to Yakov for answers.

At that thought, he hit a troubling question: would the king tell the truth or lie to his friends about his fate? Surely, he couldn’t tell the truth, they’d be furious and go looking for him. At least he hoped they would. But if the king lied and made up a story about his disappearance, no one would come looking for him. He’d be on his own.

He abandoned that train of thought, not wanting to make his day any worse than it already was. Instead, he tried to recall his brief lessons in plant biology from years before. He hadn’t paid much attention, not really seeing the usefulness of knowing the difference between elderberries and pokeberries. All he could remember was that one of them was poisonous while the other made a nice pie. He cursed himself for his foolishness. Viktor was just about to give himself a break when he pushed aside a low-hanging branch with his wing and stopped at a glorious sight. A sight that was enough to make him tear up.

Lining the bank of the river were dense thickets of bushes drooping with the weight of thousands of plump berries. Without a moment’s hesitation he jumped on them, devouring berries by the handful. At that moment, his pearly chin was stained red with the juices of the fruit, but he didn’t give a rat’s ass what he looked like. He camped by the river for hours, gorging himself and drinking from the river.

By the time Victor finally started moving again, the sun had moved some ways across the sky, and he estimated it was around two in the afternoon. Once again following the river, his mood had greatly improved and the stiffness in his joints was less noticeable. A slight ache had begun to build up in his stomach, but he wouldn’t let it deter him.

Not long after, he spotted a thin trail of smoke drifting up through the branches a few yards from the river. Excitement rippling through his body, he ignored the now sharp pains spiking in his gut and set his course in the direction of what smelled like a campfire. He had noticed his sense of smell was better as a dragon, and was excited to pick up hints of what might be food cooking as well. The berries had been enough to sate his hunger, but it smelled delicious and berries aren’t enough to live off of.

As he neared the now-visible campfire, he took a moment to assess the situation. It appeared to be the camp of two travelers, judging by the sizeable packs near the fire and the two bedrolls, and true to form, two humans sat around the crackling fire as two pheasants roasted on the spit. Relieved they didn’t appear to be villainous, he burst through the branches, conveniently forgetting his current form, opening his mouth to let out a diplomatic greeting and explain his predicament.

The result was immediate, the men going pale and sweaty, slowly reaching down for weapons discarded at their feet. Seeing their reaction, Victor remembered how he appeared, but undeterred, tried to explain somehow, _I’m not really a monster, please, just give me a chance!_ Instead all that came out was a bone-quaking roar. He advanced again towards the terrified campers, now within reaching distance, and desperately tried to convey with his eyes that he meant them no harm.

A spear swung at him from the side. Thanks to years of reaction practice with a sword, he swiped the weapon from the man’s hand before it hit its mark, throwing the attacker down to the ground. His eyes remained shut. He turned to the other man, eyes wide with surprise and sorrow, and Victor finally saw what the two humans saw. The other man’s hands trembled with fear, eyes blown open, and in them Victor saw reflected back at him his own image, scratched up and doused in mud, maw open wide in a grimace, rows of sharp teeth on display. He saw a monster.

Shoulders drooping, he turned and sauntered back into the forest, leaving the man quaking in his boots. He should have expected this, not let his hopes up. If two travelers wouldn’t see him as a harmless creature in need of help, he certainly wouldn’t be welcome in any villages. His whole plan was starting to look foolish; even if he did find civilization he had no way of asking them for help.

A rustling in the bushes snapped him out of this train of thought. No animals had been brave enough to approach him, and this was the first sign of life he’d heard. He didn’t know whether to be happy or concerned that an animal felt it was not in danger by the huge monster that he was.

Deciding caution was always the best approach, he hunched down and tried to locate the source of the noises, which seemed to be coming from the bushes off to his right. He carefully crept up and swept the branches aside, only to find nothing there, not even a footprint or lingering scent.

“There’s nothing there, you know.” Victor nearly lept out of his skin at the sound of the voice right behind him. In his haste to turn around, he fell over his own feet and laid sprawled on the ground, but the owner of the voice was gone. Strange, it had sounded like Chris. He got back to his feet, unease tingling in the air. His stomach pains had gotten worse, now shaky, and weak on his feet. Everything felt too hot, despite the cool night breeze blowing between the trees.

 _It was probably nothing_ , he thought to himself, _maybe I’m coming down with some kind of dragon fever._

Off to his right, a loud cackling shattered the quiet of the forest, and Victor sprang to his feet again, now sure something was after him. Not bothering to look for the source, he sprinted off in a random direction, only concerned with escaping whatever it was. The laugh seemed to follow him, taunting as he leapt over logs and crashed through low-hanging branches. Finally, the cackling dropped off and he paused for a much-needed breather.

Realizing he had run off away from the river again, he turned around to try and catch his bearings, and caught sight of a shadow moving among the trees he had come from. A silent scream danced on his lips as a cloaked figure moved out from the branches, shedding its hood and…

 _Chris?_ There his friend stood, arms held open, golden hair shining in the moonlight and a playful expression on his lips. Victor, feeling even worse than before, shakily stumbled over to his friends embrace, leaned up against Chris, happy to finally find a familiar face… and fell onto the ground. There was nothing there. He shook his head and spit out a mouthful of mud, rolling over onto his back.

There Chris stood, peering down at him, “Why did you leave us, Victor?”

 _You…You’re not Chris_ , thought Victor, and the Chris look-a-like’s expression turned down into one of malice.

“Of course I’m not actually Chris,” said the imposter.

_You can hear me?_

“Yeah, I’m in your head after all! What did you think, Chris would be out here in the middle of nowhere? Looking for you no less? He’s not going to come find you, he’s better off now that you’re gone.”

_That’s a lie!_

“Oh, I promise you it’s not. With you gone, he doesn’t have to listen to you whining about your problems, cleaning up your messes, babysitting the entitled prince. I assure you, no one misses you in court.”

 _It’s not true! Leave me alone!_ At that Victor sprang to his feet again, swiping at the image of his friend who flickered and turned to smoke. He slowly started running, trying to escape whatever was happening to him. His head ached along with his stomach, but he had to move, to get out of there, escape the demon that seemed to be following him.

As he ran, the hallucination of Chris morphed into Yuri, his half-brother. “Why did you leave Victor? Always making a mess for others to clean up, you didn’t think for one damn minute how this would affect the rest of us, did you?!”

Victor ran on, trying to ignore the unwanted image, tears streaming down his face.

Yakov appeared next, stepping out of a bush right into his path, “…disappointment as son and future king, never taking your studies seriously,”

The three images followed him spouting their dialogue, various voices from the royal court joining in as his vision became blurry and the forest started morphing. Knobby hands reached out from the trees and roots seemed to spring up out of the ground to trip him. The forest was filled with a cacophony of voices he knew, all shouting that he was a horrible prince, how he should have left a long time ago, how the kingdom was better off without him.

The roots underfoot tripped him and he fell to the ground with a crash. Hands seemed to spring up from the ground, tangling his limbs and keeping Victor trapped on the ground. The world slowly faded, light seemingly sapped from the forest, until only the chorus of voices remained, a demonic chant of ‘We’re better without you’ chasing him into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuuri’s day started off as it always did, with the sun and the sound of birds heralding the morning. He had never been a morning person, expressing disgust at those who took pleasure in early mornings, but years of training and routine had drilled it into his system. In other words, he did it because he had to, not necessarily because he wanted to. Which was true about a lot of things.

After a short breakfast, if he actually ate that morning, he grabbed a sack of feed and the bottles of milk and made his way to the shop behind his shack. Unlike the usual, this one was not filled with farming supplies and extra storage for the harsh winters. Instead, the little building was a unique kind of workshop, refuge and rehabilitation center for the creatures he found injured in the forest.

On his daily runs, it was not a rarity to find an orphaned nest of chicks or a squirrel in need of medical attention. More than once it had turned heads of people in the village, especially since he was the prized hunter in the area, and had garnered plenty of teasing from Phichit that his heart was too soft for his profession. Yuuri would just roll his eyes and take it as he always had.

As he removed the bar and opened the door, a chorus of chirping started up. His most recent find had been a little nest of baby squirrels, most likely orphaned when their parents were eaten. He sprinkled the feed out first for the collection of chicken and fowl he had amassed, then moved over to bottle feed the squirrels. Minami would be showing up soon to help empty out the traps, and he wanted to have all his ‘guests’ fed by then. They were going to check some of the further traps, and would need plenty of time to travel there and back.

He was just wrapping up changing the bandage on a fox when his protégé arrived, out of breath and toting a basket of rolls for his teacher, “Yuuri-sensei, sorry for being late! I forgot the rolls and had to go back for them!”

Yuuri blushed, “Just Yuuri is fine, no need to be formal.”

Minami was an energetic young man, excited to follow Yuuri’s lead in everything and determined to become his partner once his training was complete, but Yuuri was often intimidated by the young man’s strong presence. Grabbing his bag and some provisions, the two set off into the forest in the direction of the first trap.

The first two they found were smaller, meant for small game. The first held nothing, while the other had snagged a rabbit. The wire had snapped its neck, most likely when the creature first ran into it, and hopefully didn’t suffer. They gave thanks to the spirit for providing them with a catch, then reset the snares and moved on. The rest of the traps were further away, and were much larger.

They were meant to catch big creatures that came too close to the village, such as cougars and the occasional bear. Yuuri and Minami would feed them a special drought that set the animals into a deep sleep, then relocate them to a different part of the forest. The system formed as a sort of protection for Hasetsu while also sparing the lives of these big beasts that might otherwise be killed. The occasional deer did get caught as well, saving him the trouble of hunting the majestic creatures on foot.

Most of the large traps that day were empty, saving them the trouble of repairing them and making their trip considerably shorter. Minami was excited at the prospect of all the free time they’d have for sparring that night, until Yuuri reminded him of the tools in need of maintenance and traps in construction. With two hunters, they would be able to cover more ground, and Minami would only become Yuuri’s partner once he had built a complete set of traps for himself.

The sun had moved a good way across the sky by the time they approached the location of the last trap. Yuuri was on edge, not believing his good luck would stretch far enough to leave all of them empty, especially since he hadn’t checked the large traps in over a week. Minami was enthusiastically talking about a traveler that recently went through their village telling anyone who’d listen about a great beast that attacked them. He only quieted down when Yuuri put a firm hand on his shoulder. Used to Yuuri’s body language, Minami immediately became alert.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Yuuri hissed. He knelt to the ground, where some small shrubs had been torn up and trampled. There were no clear marks, however, and no fur or feathers to identify. Keeping a tense hand on their weapons, they followed the clear trail laid out for them in the underbrush, occasionally ducking under split limbs or pausing to listen. Whatever had come through had no fear of being tracked, and the thought of it made Yuuri even more weary.

The trail lead right to their final trap, and next to him Minami was nearly vibrating with anticipation of seeing the creature that left such huge traps. Using sign language, Yuuri told Minami to climb a tree with his bow and scout from above while he approached through the bushes. The young apprentice nodded at his master then sprang up into the branches overhead. Yuuri carefully crept through the undergrowth, making sure not to step on any twigs, until he could just see the clearing where the trap was.

He peered through the branches of the tree hiding him, but saw nothing out of the ordinary and the trail didn’t continue on the other side of the clearing, meaning the creature must be in the trap. A shrill whistling rang down from the tree tops, informing him to proceed with caution. Sword in hand, he brushed aside the branches to get a good look at the caged animal, but the sight stopped him in his tracks.

Tangled in the large web-like contraptions that were his trademark rested a fantastical beast. Coated in pearl-like scales from tail to snout, it had an ethereal appearance in the dappled lighting through the trees. Small scratches and a few deeper gashes covered its frame, and it looked like something had left shallow scratches all over its exposed skin. From what he could tell, it was considerably larger in length than the average room, and there was no telling how big the wingspan of the creature was. Its wings were folded up around its body, and the splay of its legs showed the creature had been struggling while it passed out. Despite its beastly appearance, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sorrow for causing such terror.

With no signs of consciousness, he moved until he could nearly touch the monster. Minami caught up with him as Yuuri reached out a tentative hand and poked the beast. When nothing happened, any remaining fear turned to worry, “I don’t know what happened to it. The lures are just traced with a sleeping draught…”

Minami had shed the careless demeanor, “What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know… I have a bad feeling about this. We need to find out what’s wrong but to do an examination I’ll need him free.” he began to hack at the cords binding it, urging Minami to do the same.

They gently stretched the creature out, which was as heavy as it looked, and got a great look at its head, which had been hidden before. Its head was slightly larger than the head of a moose, resembling that of a bird’s with scales instead of feathers and a mouth in place of its beak. The large slit-like nostrils flared gently as it breathed, the first sign of life they had seen yet. Minami put a hand on his dagger hilt as Yuuri went to pry open the mouth, but when nothing happened again the younger hunter went to look at their query, “It looks like a dragon! But that can’t be, dragons went extinct a long time ago!”

Face to face with rows of razor sharp teeth as long as his little finger, Yuuri gulped, “I know, and I’m not sure how, but we do have a dragon on our hands,” he carefully pried the jaws apart and stuck a hand down the gaping throat. The sight of the purple stain on his tongue and constricted airway gave Yuuri the answer he was looking for, his voice suddenly layered with urgency, “and it looks like he’s in real trouble! Minami, I need you run back to the village and get Minako and Phichit. Tell them it’s urgent. Send my medicine kit with them,” Minami listened intently to the instructions and Yuuri knew he’d take them to heart, “I’m not sure how long we’ll be out here, so you’ll need to stay at my lodge until we return. And don’t forget to feed the animals.”

Minami shrugged off his pack and turned to leave but Yuuri caught his arm, “Don’t tell anyone about this. We can’t have this getting out. Do you understand?”

His protégé nodded gravely and took off into the trees, disappearing quickly in the dense forest. Left alone with the dragon, he decided to see what could be done for the dragon while waiting for the rest of his supplies. The signs were not looking good, characteristic symptoms of Poisonous Gallberry, which meant almost certain death if the target doesn’t get treatment. He had the cure amongst the bag that Phichit would be bringing him, but until then there was nothing he could do about the berries. Instead, Yuuri set about the task of curing to the wounds.

As he retrieved water from a nearby stream, he thought about the odd dragon’s appearance. It had eaten the berries, which meant it had come from far away lands since every animal and person living in the area knew not to eat them, and not to mention the clear trail it had carved out in the forest floor. It was apparent the dragon had no place in the forest, but no answers about its origin would come to him.

Yuuri carefully washed the wounds on the dragon’s back and legs, growing even more concerned when he washed the larger gash on its head and it didn’t flinch. He had treated many animals in his time as a hunter, and in all that time he had learned the universal reactions that all creatures shared while in pain, unconscious or not, and the fact the dragon was different concerned him greatly. One if its wings appeared to be inflamed at the joint, though not broken or fractured.

Phichit and Minako arrived as he was patching up the worse gashes with strips of his shirt. Due to their sufficient hunter training, Yuuri could hear them coming a mile away. He decided to approach them before they saw the dragon.

He went to greet his friends who both looked exhausted, like they had been running the whole time. Accepting the hefty bag from Minako, he gave them a short briefing on the situation. He lead them into the clearing, walking right to the dragon’s head and rummaging in his bag for the correct drought. When he looked over his shoulder, Phichit’s mouth was hanging open, lacking a witty comment for once. Even Minako looked slightly surprised.

“Wow, you really know how to find them Yuuri!” Phichit was back to his usual self apparently. He sat down next to Yuuri, prying open the jaws of the dragon so the hunter could force the potion down its throat. Minako began assembling a small pile of logs to light, as it was likely they would be spending the night.

Yuuri’s brew went down easily. He asked Minako to tend the dragon’s remaining wounds while Phichit examined the mighty beast. Minako was the village witch (though no one would call her that to her face), and she had just enough control over magic for simple tasks like lighting a fire, casting a simple shield, or examining a patient for infection. Yuuri had trained with her briefly until they determined there was not a drop of magic in his body.

His old mentor regarded him with a slightly teasing, slightly concerned grin on her face. “Really, Yuuri? A dragon? I thought the sabre cat was a bit much when you brought it home, but this? You’ve really outdone yourself.”

“I know, I know. I just couldn’t leave it here! It would die, and even if by some miracle it survived, what then? I think it’s lost Minako. What else would a dragon be doing here of all places?”

She ignored his question, for not even she knew the answer to his question. The two worked in silence for a minute before she spoke up again, softer this time, “You seem to be taking this well.”

“Believe me, I’m freaking out, but it doesn’t help anyone to lose their heads so I’m suppressing it until we get it home.”

“What!? Yuuri, this isn’t a bunny with a broken leg, or an abandoned chick! This is a dragon we’re talking about! You can’t bring it home, it’ll eat you!” Yuuri stubbornly remained silent. “I know there’s no talking sense into you, but I don’t think it’s a good idea, so…” she thought for a moment, index finger to her lips, “I know, I’ll stay with you! We can take shifts watching it!” Yuuri rolled his eyes but gave in anyway, knowing she’d settle for no less.

As the forest grew dark with the setting sun, the group made a plan to take the night in shifts watching the dragon, Yuuri volunteering for the first one. As the others drifted off and the fire died down to a pile of embers, he regarded the mystical creature. Even in the dark it seemed to glow, looking so out of place in the forest. Parents told their children tales passed down of fantastical beings from the realm of magic, the half-horses, the tree folk, and most of all the great winged beasts that used to roam the world and the wars that chased them back to their realm. He had never put much faith in the stories, but at night when his family was sleeping he would dream of what it would be like to see the giant beasts flying among the clouds.

The next day Phichit went to town, bringing back Minami and Yuuri’s cart for large animals. The dragon barely fit and even with Minako’s lifting charm it was a challenge lifting it into the bed. The humans walked along in silence as Yuuri’s horse Vicchan struggled to pulled the cart along. It took several hours, but they made it back to his cabin by lunch. There was no way the dragon was going to fit through the ‘infirmary’ door, so they set up a makeshift shelter tying canvas to the wall of his house and building the other two walls out of miscellaneous objects around his house .

Minami left to tend to the traps with Phichit tagging along while Minako remained. The dragon was already showing signs of improvement with its breathing coming easier and throat decreasing in size. Yuuri knew not to expect it to wake up for another day at the earliest, but made sure to keep his sword within reach anyway. As the day came to a close and the younger men returned, they shared a quiet meal, everyone curious and a little nervous to see how this would play out in the end. Phichit was the first to leave, promising to return the following afternoon, and Minami followed soon after.

Minako and Yuuri stayed up deep into the night, talking softly or sitting in easy silence until it was well past time to call it a night. 

“Yuuri, what’s your plan here? After it’s healed, what are you going to do with it? I don’t know a lot about dragons, but they’re not very friendly if I recall the stories correctly.”

“Can we not talk about this?”

Minako huffed, “fine. Did you hear our sister village Exedo was raided by bandits again? There’s talk that Hasetsu’s going to be hit next.”

Yuuri’s hand subconsciously twitched at where his sword usually hung, “Have we heard back from the palace yet? We requested protection weeks ago.”

“Yes, a few days ago,” She grimaced, “The answer’s no. As if they’d ever extend any help this far out, did you know they consider us one of the ‘inconsequential villages’?”

“They’re not sending anyone? They can’t do that! The raids are getting worse every year and it’s starting to take a toll! Did they give a reason?”

Minako nodded darkly, “The Crowned Prince has disappeared. All resources have been rerouted to finding him.”

“Missing? What do you mean?”

“Well, he apparently just vanished. No one saw him go. If you ask me, he probably just got drunk and rode off. They’ll probably find him holed up with some girl in one of those no-name towns like ours.”

Yuuri’s brow furrowed, “But what if they don’t? Find him, I mean. What then?”

“Well, the young prince would be next in line for the crown. I’ve heard he’s quite the feisty one, though he’s paid more attention to politics in the last few years than the actual heir. Not the end of the world.”

Yuuri’s hand brushed at where his sword hilt should have been, and though he tried to disguise the movement Minako noticed anyway.

“Yuuri, the days of your playing at knighthood have long since passed. Give it up! It’s never going to happen!”

“King’s Guard!”

“What?”

“Never mind, it’s getting late. We should get some rest.” He made his way to bed, leaving Minako at the kitchen table.

Yuuri, however, found sleep a distant dream, instead lying awake most of the night thinking of what he would do once the dragon inevitably awoke. 


	3. Chapter 3

The birds were chirping loudly and the distinct smell of pine sap and mildew welcomed Victor as he came to. Eyes closed tight against a pounding headache, he decided that, given the choice, he much preferred the lavender. Unfortunately, in his current condition he couldn’t pretend to sleep forever, and cautiously cracked open an eye.

He was _not_ in the forest anymore, that’s for sure, and looking back, the last thing he remembered was being chased through the forest by a devilish Chris. He seemed to be in a tent-like shelter with a…house? Building?...on his left. His other eye snapped open at that and he shot to his feet. Or, he tried to. The world went gray and fuzzy as he stood and his whole body seemed to scream out in protest. He collapsed back to the ground with a thud and waited for his vision to return.

When he opened his eyes again a scrawny human with a lock of dis-colored hair was standing a few yards away, mouth hanging wide. Still a little loopy, he opened his mouth to tell the boy a spider would build a web there if he wasn’t careful. Instead of words though, he felt the contents of his stomach (stomachs?) make a quick exit, filling his mouth with a rancid taste, and gracefully passed back out in the mess.

The next time he came to a beautiful raven-haired angel was standing in front of him, one hand held out in a motion of peace, the other on a sword at his hip. He thought briefly what an angel would need a weapon for. After a minute of awkward staring he lay his head back down to sleep. Clearly, he was still hallucinating, and if he was still alive no one would probably kill him anytime soon. He drifted off again.

The third time he woke up the headache was gone and his mouth tasted of mint. Slowly this time, he stretched his limbs, testing for pain before getting to his feet. Once he was confident in his balance he carefully ambled out of the shelter. Peering around the corner his heart almost stopped from pure cuteness. The man he had mistaken for an angel was sitting on the porch with the scrawny one, both bottle-feeding tiny baby squirrels.

Distracted by the beautiful image, he didn’t notice the third man until it was too late. A cold blade pressed up against his neck, sending shivers down his spine, and he froze as an emotionless glacial-cold voice hissed in his ear, “Don’t even think of moving”. If he wasn’t preoccupied he would have thought how much Lilia would like this person.

The raven-haired man on the porch handed a squirrel off to the other, and for a minute Victor thought he’d pull out his sword too, but instead the blade at his neck let up and he held out both hands in a gesture of peace.

 

He sent a sharp glare at Phichit, who backed up a little, blade still in hand. Yuuri looked at the dragon with what he hoped was a friendly expression, sweat dripping down his back, and tried to hide the tremor in his hands. The dragon looked terrified but there was no way of knowing how he would react. Slowly, he slid closer and closer to the creature, who remained unmoving, eyes darting between Phichit and Yuuri.

 

Victor wasn’t sure what to do. The last people had attacked him, and the woman seemed like she really wanted to, but for some reason he trusted the raven-haired man. Swallowing his fear, he took the risk and closed the rapidly-closing distance, softly butting his nose against one of the outstretched hands.

 

Yuuri let out a breath he had been holding and stroked the dragon’s snout gently with a shaking hand. He was rewarded with a soft sigh. Blades around him were sheathed, and he looked around to see Minako had arrived during the show. The dragon leaned into his touch, closing its eyes, and he could practically see tension leaving its body. He had absolutely no idea what to do any more. He figured they’d just wing it, but now, petting the majestic beast like some scaled horse, he was completely lost.

 

Victor felt relief and happiness for the first time since he had been turned. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time if he was being honest. He leaned into the touch, knowing the situation would be awkward once he explained the predicament, but at that moment he didn’t have a care in the world. 

Unfortunately, his thoughts turned to the predicament of communication. Talking was out of the question, and he didn’t think he’d be able to hold a quill, but there were other ways so long as they spoke the same language. None of the humans had spoken yet.

The woman, who had shown up recently, joined the other man, putting her hand on his head as well. A strange tingling filled him and seemed to rattle his bones, and a strange blue glow encompassed him. The woman’s hand dropped away then and she broke the silence, “Yuuri, this isn’t a dragon, it’s human! I can’t believe I didn’t notice before, whoever cast the spell did a pretty thorough job!” Victor’s spirits soared.

“Do you think it understands us then?” the black-haired man spoke.

This was his que, and he had to take advantage of it. He grunted and backed up, looking at the ground and sighed. It wasn’t sand, but the pine needles and dirt would do. Extending one claw, he dragged it around, writing a short message, ‘help me’.

He stepped back as the curious humans crowded over to look at what he had written, pleased by the gasps, and let himself feel hopeful again. These people would help him, he was sure of it.

 

Yuuri sat back from his book and rubbed his eyes. The day had been long and tiring, and everyone had quickly become frustrated with the limited communication available through writing in the dirt. They had learned the man’s name was Victor and that a sorceress had changed him into a dragon, but hadn’t gotten much further than that before the day grew too dark to see the strokes. Phichit and Minami had replaced the bandages on the dragon’s wounds then left, and Yuuri and Minako retired to the lodge, promising to bring breakfast in the morning.

In the lodge, the two sat around the table silently, passing a bottle of sake between them. They shared a silent conversation between their glances, neither of them able to put thoughts to words. There was only one enchantress they knew of strong enough for such a large curse, and the journey to reach her would be difficult. Yuuri had already made up his mind about what he was going to do, though not quite aware of it yet, and Minako knew there would be no stopping him.

Sure enough, the next morning Yuuri pledged to help Victor become human again, Phichit and Minako volunteering to tag along as well. Over the next few days Yuuri and Minami gave intensive lessons in sign language by day, and by night Minako and Phichit poured over maps and cross-referenced rumors to pinpoint the location of the sorceress. As the days passed and communication became easier they learned the full story from Victor, of the fight with his father, waking in the field of lavender, of accidentally scaring the travelers, yet Yuuri suspected he was still withholding information.

The knowledge that others knew of a dragon concerned them greatly, and when Minami informed them of tales of a silver beast circling the village their planning took on a new intensity, moving their departure date up in fear of being discovered. The humans were constantly busy, running into town to pick up supplies or finalizing their route. Victor was unable to help out much, so Yuuri let him accompany Minami to empty traps. The young hunter would be tending to Yuuri’s tasks while the group were gone, and while Minami was sad at staying home, he was ecstatic when Yuuri informed him his training was officially complete.

Victor had caught on to sign language quickly, since he depended on it completely to communicate with the others. He learned the names of the humans, and in thanks he recounted his story. However, he was no fool and left out any mentions of him being crowned prince. His father had many enemies, and while he wanted to trust his new companions, it would be risky to impart such knowledge, so with a heavy heart he kept his identity hidden.

As the humans went about preparing for travel, Victor was assigned tasks around the cabin to do. He hoped to be able to spend more time with Yuuri, but more often than not he was sent off with the young Minami to spend the days emptying traps. He had nothing against the younger man, but his never-ending chatter after days of silence were a little tiresome. 


	4. Chapter 4

Yuuri watched the dragon follow his protege into the forest. The last few days had been strange to say the least, and he wasn’t sure their plan wasn’t verging on madness. However, something about Victor fascinated him. Perhaps it was the way he listened to Minami’s ramblings with fascinated disinterest, or how he seemed to struggle with basic tasks despite almost scholarly knowledge of maps and legends. Or perhaps it was the hasty dismissal of discussions about his past and where he came from. Whatever it was, Yuuri yearned to learn more about the dragon. He had never been one to turn away those in need after all.

It had begun with a small puppy that showed up on his doorstep. It was a pathetic creature, sick from the rain and fighting a nasty infection on its leg. His father had wanted to kill the poor thing, arguing it wasn’t worth the time and effort to heal. But Yuuri, as stubborn as a child as he was now, convinced his father to hand the creature over to him to care for under the condition that he care for it on his own.

Caring for the puppy, dubbed Vicchan, had not been easy. It ended up losing a leg to the infection and suffered through weeks of heavy fever, but Yuuri stayed by his side through it all. Vicchan ended up making a full recovery and was parading around after his master in no time. 

After word spread of the puppy’s miraculous recovery, people began bringing him small animals to care for; a bird with a sprained wing, a squirrel with a broken tail, and on one memorable occasion a litter of fox kits. He hadn’t been able to save them all, but as time went on his reputation grew, as did his abilities. It didn’t help that his father had been a famed hunter in his prime and was set on training Yuuri for the same path, but he made it work. Besides, Mari had taken to hunting much better than he had.

It wasn’t until his parents had taken him to the capital one year that he fell in love with swordplay. The Katsukis had been elected to appeal to the King for assistance after a drought wiped out most of their crops, and so the whole family had packed up and left for the castle. Of what Yuuri remembered, the days had been long and exciting. 

The people they met along the way told Mari and Yuuri many stories from all over the kingdom, filling the children’s heads with exaggerated stories of combat, adventure, and creatures out of their imaginations. At one point they had even traveled with a performing group that taught the two magic tricks and dancing. Hiroko had drawn the line when one of them had taught Yuuri how to pick simple locks though, and they were sorry when their group had to depart.

The capital itself was about as different from Hasetsu as one place could be. The streets were filled with more people than Yuuri had ever seen in his life, and he had hid his head in his mother’s skirts to escape from the loud noises that seemed to reverberate through his whole body. Eventually, as they neared the palace, the crowds dispersed and they got their first real glimpse of the castle.

The gleaming stone towers rose high into the sky. Ornate archways and stonework graced the walls of the structures and maids and knights strode around the paths and through various doors. A magnificent garden peeked around the back side of the castle, and the whole thing seemed to glow in the sun.

As they crossed the drawbridge a guard waved at them. Yuuri waved back shyly, making the guard smile. They stopped at the stables and a guide came out to escort them all to the great hall where the king would see them. Yuuri followed his family, head whipping around every which way to take in the splendor of the building around him. 

Gorgeous tapestries and paintings adorned the walls, depicting feasts and battles and faces of people lost to time. All the halls were lit and the smell of baking bread wafted from nowhere in particular. He caught something moving out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see a silver-haired boy dash around a corner.

Yuuri glanced briefly at his parents then dashed after the boy, curiosity winning him over. He followed the tinkling sound of laughter and brief glimpses of silver hair darting around corners, until he burst through into bright sunlight. The boy ran across a stretch of grass then ducked through a hole in a long row of hedges, blocking something from view. Yuuri gritted his teeth and formed fists with his hands. He was NOT going to be afraid, he was a mighty hunter and he wanted to meet the boy who so resembled a fairy in his stories.

He ducked under the hedge and pulled himself across the ground, getting dirt and twigs stuck in his clothing. On the other side he emerged to find the boy waiting for him. He offered Yuuri his hand and held a finger to his lips, telling him to be quiet. Yuuri complied, then turned as the boy pointed at something.

He gasped in awe as the courtyard they were standing in came into focus. Many people dressed in armor and leather hit at each other with long padded swords or swung at men made of sticks. He had always imagined swordplay being rough and scary, but these men moved with the grace of dancers. Light on their feet, they seemed to perform intricate steps in a circle while swinging rhythmically with their swords. He stood and watched their dance for a long time, almost forgetting about the boy next to him.

That is, until he cleared his throat. In his hands were two sticks, perfectly straight. The boy handed one to Yuuri then pointed back to the men training. Yuuri caught on to his intentions and nodded enthusiastically. He could only hope to emulate the same grace and talent as the men he had watched.

The two of them clumsily copied the movements of the older men, until they lost themselves in the game. They giggled whenever one of them missed a step, smiling brightly when they did a particularly challenging movement. Caution was forgotten until someone cleared their throat.

Yuuri dropped the stick and whipped around. One of the soldiers was watching them, slight frown on his face. He started stuttering out an apology, but the man raised his hand.

“Where are your parents, son?” The man’s voice was not angry as he had expected, and he found himself shaking his head.

“Don’t know,” he whispered to his shoes.

“Well then, I guess we’ll have to find them.” The man called a few others over, instructing them to find his parents. He turned back and regarded the two boys, “Since you’re here, why don’t I give you two some lessons while we find this young man’s parents?”

Yuuri had been ecstatic and was sorry when his parents had come to retrieve him. The friends he had made among the soldiers had hugged him goodbye, expressing their hopes to see him join the ranks again when he was old enough. Mari had been bitter about missing out on the adventure, and Yuuri told the story over and over again the whole trip home. He only realised when he got home that he had never learned the boy’s name. Within a month he had begun training in swordplay with the dream of someday returning to the palace as a knight.

 

Phichit, Minako, Yuuri and Victor crowded around the severely marked-up map of the empire, squinting in the candlelight. Minami had gone home hours ago. 

Minako pushed away from the table they had set up and exclaimed, “What are we still doing here? We’re just going over the same information over and over again.”

“Are you sure?” Yuuri picked at his palm nervously.

“I don’t see what’s holding us back. We have provisions, we have weapons and a plan. There’s no reason to put it off any longer. We should leave tomorrow first thing in the morning.” 

The others agreed, and Phichit and Minako took that as their cue to leave. Yuuri and Victor would be meeting them on the outskirts of town the next day, and everyone wanted to get as much sleep as possible.

Yuuri rolled up the map and put it in his travel bag, already waiting by the door, and blew out all the candles but one before sitting back down beside the dragon. The silence between them grew, only broken by the occasional cricket in the forest.

Victor … “ _Nervous?”_ he signed.

A faint blush blossomed across Yuuri’s cheeks and he settled his hands in his lap, “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”

Victor regarded him for a moment, “ _Do you expect a lot of trouble?”_

“It’s possible. There will be more guards patrolling the roads than we’re used to,”

“ _How come? What happened?_ ”

Yuuri sighed, “The crown prince went missing almost a week ago. If it was anyone else the search would be called off, but…” He shrugged.

“ _Wow, I had no idea…_ ” 

“Yeah, everyone thought he got drunk and ran off with some girl, but now there are some pretty wild stories going around.” 

“ _Like what?_ ”

“The Fae kidnapped him for wronging the forest spirits, a sorceress turned him into an insect. He _did_ run off with a girl, who used him as a human sacrifice for the gods of plentiful harvest. Pretty dark stuff.”

The pieces were falling into place. Yakov had lied to everyone, telling them he had run off in order to save his own reputation. Anger boiled in his stomach. Yuuri was looking at him strangely and Victor realized he had been lost in thought. He recalled what Yuuri had been telling him, “ _Everyone must really hate this prince._ ”

In return he got a strange look from Yuuri, as though he had grown a horn (though he supposed it was possible), “Well, he hasn’t exactly done much for us citizens.”

Yuuri must have taken the horror on his face as confusion, as he continued, “Sorry, I keep forgetting you’re not from around here.” He sighed deeply, running his hands up his thighs as Victor stared just past his shoulder. “It’s a favored topic of those with nothing better to do. You see, it’s hard to place faith in a future king who shares no concern for his subjects. His lack of interest in court matters is concerning itself, but there are plenty of stories from servants in the palace as to his nature. They’re definitely not casting him in a good light.” A yawn brought an end to his statement. “Well, this can wait. We should get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

He retreated inside, leaving Victor in the dark, turning over what Yuuri had told him. Sleep didn’t come easy that night.


	5. Chapter 5

The morning sun had not yet risen when Yuuri woke Victor, already dressed for travel. He let Yuuri secure the makeshift saddlebags to his back, and after a quick breakfast they set off in the direction of the town. The morning dew was just beginning to appear on branches. The path was thick with fallen leaves, a reminder that fall was well on its way despite the warm weather of Hasetsu, and Victor sent a wish that the frosts would hold out during their journey.

They walked in silence, taking the scenic route around the village in order to avoid running into any of the townsfolk. Phichit and Minako were already waiting for them on the side of the main road, which would take them most of the way across the kingdom. They exchanged signed greetings, then took off in a hurry. Victor would walk a ways into the forest along the trail, accompanied by one of the others, in the eventuality of encountering other travelers. While the weather wasn’t terrible, it was getting bad in the northernmost parts of the country that enough people would be out trying to get home before the first storms hit.

The first several days went without a hitch. Despite the clouds that filled the sky, not a drop of rain fell. Nevertheless, tensions were high as their minds were occupied with all the things that could go wrong. By the time they set up camp for each night everyone was too tired to do more than eat dinner and go to sleep.

On the fourth night of traveling they set up camp in a clearing not far from the main road. They figured they were only a day or two from the nearest town, and pretty soon the roads would get more crowded with merchants and royal couriers as well as a whole other assortment of people traveling. They ate a late meal of rabbit stew, courtesy of the snares that Yuuri sat up when they first arrived in the area. They retired to their bedrolls content and exhausted.

All of a sudden, Yuuri jerked to attention at the sound of Phichit's warning call. He barely had time to reach for his sword before men jumped out of the bushes, surrounding them. He rolled to his feet, narrowly avoiding a mace that crashed down where he had been laying. Yuuri jumped up into a lunge, thrusting his sword into the stomach of one assailant while his left-handed dagger caught the answering slash of another sword. Minako had risen, quickly taking out a few men, and as Yuuri drew his sword from the one man, Phichit's arrow shot through the second attacker's head. 

Their resident dragon roared fiercely as he rolled to his feet, teeth bared as he faced down the last man standing. With one smooth swing of his tail, the man was sent flying into a tree. The gash in his head was evidence he would not be rising again. Yuuri glanced around to see if there were any others before wiping his blade on his cloak, “Is anyone hurt?"

"Nothing I can't handle," provided Minako, tending to a scratch on Phichit's arm, "We need to be more careful. We all knew this was coming, and clearly they knew we traveled with a dragon or they would have been more surprised. We'll need to cover our tracks better and stay off the main roads." Everyone nodded in agreement.

They worked together to loot the bodies, then dragged them away from camp where they wouldn't attract any animals.

" _Why don't you all go back to sleep and I'll take this next watch?_ " Signed Victor, feeling a little bad about putting his friends in danger.

The others nodded and returned to their bedrolls, leaving Victor to watch over the camp.

 

The map lay before them on the ground, and the four of them stood around regarding the fork in the road. One branched off through a small town, while the other took the long way around. And they were disagreeing.

"Look, Yuuri, I'm a dragon. If anyone attacks us, we'll be fine!"

"That's not the issue, if we get into a fight that will draw attention! We were lucky no one last night got away, or we'd have a whole mob on our hands!" Minako interjected.

"And besides, I don't like the idea of taking any risks we don't have to." Yuuri wiped his brow. The sky was getting dark and everyone had been moody with the lack of sleep. They had avoided the argument over when to stop for lunch and narrowly missed fighting over how far to travel that day, and it was all coming out now.

"What if we go around the city again, like with Hasetsu?"

"That won't work Victor, Hasetsu's a smaller village, and it was way early in the morning. There would be tons of people out now. There's no way we could go unseen."

"It'll add a whole day to our trip!" They had traveled long enough that Yuuri could see the annoyance on the dragon's face, "We're already taking a lot of unnecessary detours!"

"Fine. We'll take a vote then, Those who want to go through the city stand by Victor, and whoever wants to take the long way, stand over here."

Minako rolled her eyes, but sauntered over to her protegee. Phichit looked unsure for a moment, before joining Yuuri's other side, looking apologetically at Victor sulking on his own. 

"Fine then, I'll go by myself. See you on the other side of the city." He turned and stomped past the fork in the road.

"Victor, you're being ridiculous. Stop sulking, lets go!" The dragon just kept on walking. 

"We're here to help YOU! If you go through the city we'll all be at risk! Stop being selfish!" yelled Minako.

Victor stopped at that, and turned around slowly. Without signing anything he Minako folded up the map and the three gathered up their packs again, this time with a sulking dragon following behind. Phichit and Yuuri shared exasperated glances and set in for the long walk that awaited them. They had a long way to go and would no doubt be traveling in the dark.

 

"Hey you, dragon!"

Victor pretended not to hear Minako.

"I know you can hear me, stop pretending!"

Victor sighed, there was no use in ignoring her. Minako would get her two sense in whether he liked it or not. He turned to look at the woman.

"You're being ridiculous. I know you're tired, we're all tired, but please use your brain and think! Why are you even upset?"

Victor scowled, "You know why,"

Minako snorted, "No, I don't! What reason do you have to be angry? Because we're trying to help you? You're mad because we're concerned about your safety? It's only one day Victor, think about where your priorities lie and when you're ready, come back to camp. Dinner's almost ready." She turned away and walked back to camp, leaving Victor to think.

Her words had hurt. He hated to think he was being ungrateful, and he definitely didn't want them to think he was being selfish. Victor had never had friends before, and he didn't want to lose these ones. The more he thought about it, the more petty it seemed. Everyone had been tired and upset, and he was just acting like a petulant child. He thought back to his hallucinations in the forest, and Yakov looking on in disappointment as the sorceress started the curse. No, he didn't want to be that person anymore, and for the first time in a while he wanted to work to gain the respect of his traveling companions. Forming an apology fit for a prince, he turned back to camp, following the smell of cooking food.

The three humans sat on a log by the fire, cupping bowls of soup and laughing at something. Yuuri looked up as he approached, and Victor figured there was no time like the present, "Yuuri, Phichit, Minako, I appologize for my actions today. You all have been so generous and helpful for me, and I didn't want to be ungrateful,"

Yuuri gave him a smile that could light up the night sky, "Don't worry about it Victor, it's nothing. We're all tired, it was only a matter of time before something went down."

"Yeah, I nearly dueled Yuuri for the last bite of jerky at lunch! Don't worry about it!" Interjected Phichit.

Minako nodded at him with a sly smile and scooped out a bowl of soup for him.

"Now, you'll never believe what happened with the spider,"

Victor smiled into his dinner, listening in to whatever story Phichit had been telling before he arrived.

 

“ _What do you want me to be to you?_ ”

Yuuri knit his brow confusion, “What do you mean?”

“ _Am I a friend? A traveling companion? A devilishly handsome dragon?”_

“No,”

The dragon continued, “ _Then what, you brought me back to life, are we destined to be tragic lovers? Torn apart by an evil witch?”_

Yuuri shook his head, gently grabbing Victor’s paws, “Victor, just be you. That’s more than enough.”

“ _What if i’m something you don’t like?”_ The question was laced with something, important information floating under the surface, but Yuuri had no idea what it was.

“Then it’s still you. I would never hate anyone for who they are.”

He stood up off the stump, stirring up the last burning embers from their fire. The suave air to the dragon was gone, and Victor’s eyes seemed distant in thought. Perhaps no one had ever told him that before. He could tell Victor hadn’t been teasing with asking the question, but he didn’t know how to answer. There were clearly aspects of Victor’s past that he was hiding from them, but he could say the same thing about himself. It was a question for another day though, and he patted the dragon’s shoulder as he retreated to his bedroll for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

As they traveled along he gave Victor the permission to start using his wing again. It had healed on its own for the most part, and the next step was to work out the muscles. Yuuri learned to walk a ways behind him after getting smacked a few times. Everyone was in an overall good mood that day, a nice change from the previous disaster.

The group stopped for lunch in a small clearing carpeted in daisies. Victor opted for a short nap in the noon sunlight, and Yuuri and Phichit fell into a familiar pastime in the fields of flowers. They had learned to chain flowers when they both lived in the capital, and had burned away many hours making flower crowns for the multitudes of children living in the city.

They adorned the sleeping dragon in chains and crowns, carefully linking rings around his paws. The mighty beast looked soft and gentle dozing in the field, flowers covering him. Victor woke up slowly, disturbing the flower halo resting on his head. It fell crooked across his scales. 

As he looked down at his flower adornments, Yuuri picked one of the few yellow flowers that grew amongst the others and offered it up to him with a gentle smile. He swore the dragon was blushing.They packed up to go and Victor shook off most of the flowers, only keeping his flower crown for the voyage that day.

 

Solace was a decent-sized city, an outer domestic ring surrounding the busy marketplace. It was built as a hub for trade and in relation, a meeting ground for all religions and professions. People from distant lands converged on the infamous market, intent on selling their goods or forming a life in the big city. With all the travelers however, there were also many cutthroats and sell swords in the city, and Solace was famous for its underground crime rings.

They left Victor in a cave on the outskirts of the town, concealed in the forest, while Phichit, Yuuri and Minako went to replenish their stocks of food. Yuuri kept a hand on his dagger and another on his satchel as they reached the market district. Being early in the morning, the market was still relatively empty compared to usual, but the growing crowd was enough to make them uneasy.

They picked up fresh produce as well as goods that would be appropriate for days on the road, though all three grumbled at having to get any more dried meat. Phichit oohed and awed at an extravagantly sparkly traveling cloak at a foreign stall. Yuuri stopped for a moment to watch a fighting demonstration between two children, especially talented for their age. The market was full of fascinating spectacles and they took their time going about the shopping, happy to enjoy themselves after several tiresome days on the trail.

By the time Minako finished bartering over a basket of rolls the lunch crowd was starting to roll in. As the streets flooded the three ducked into a small alley for lunch before heading back out.

Yuuri took a bite of his lunch, unable to brush away the feeling that they were being watched. Minako also seemed to notice it, her body tense and fingertips dancing around where he knew she concealed some blades. Phichit wasn’t even bothering to act laid back, glaring out at the crowd. The three shared a look then stashed the remains of their lunches.

They slung their bags onto their backs, now full of supplies again, and turned to dive into the crowds when a group of men stepped out into their shadowed alley. There were five of them, three with short swords and two with maces. They were clothed in plain wear, meant to blend into a crowd but still allow for movement. Scars littered their faces and peeked out under their sleeves, and they walked lightly without sound, the trademark of the thieves’ guild.

Phichit and Yuuri reached back for their weapons while Minako held up her hands, “We’re just on our way out. If you don’t mind, we’ll just be on our way.” She tried to push past but they didn’t move out of her way.

“You’re from the Hasetsu province, yes? You smell like it,” the one in front quipped, his friends laughing at the last part.

Yuuri watched Minako visibly struggle to not roll her eyes, “Look, we’re all friends here, why don’t we talk about whatever you want like real adults?” She barely finished her sentence before the man’s blade came crashing down on her. Minako ducked out of the way and pulled out her daggers while Yuuri and Phichit jumped into action.

The first man had been unbalanced by his attack and was taken out easily by Yuuri’s fast reflexes and sharp blades. The others jumped into action as the first fell to the ground.

As he wiped the blood from his blade a projectile flew just over Yuuri’s shoulder, embedding in the pillar. He whipped around, just in time to see the next assailant pulling back a rope dart. He ducked down as the dart came flying at him again, this time flying by right where his head had been.

As the dart was pulled back he sprang back behind the pillar, trying to catch his breath. He had not yet had the pleasure of training against such a weapon before, though he had heard of the skill needed to use one, as well as some tips against them. He adjusted his grip on the sword and listened for the tell-tale sound of the projectile. He ducked again, just in time for the dart to wrap around the pillar.

He ran out in front, grabbing the rope pulled taut between the pillar and the other man. With one hand he grabbed the rope, ever-thankful for the leather gloves he wore when the spikes on the chain bit into the material rather than tearing a gash in his palm. Wrapping it around his hand, he yanked hard, pulling his opponent off-balance toward him, swiping up with the blade still caught in his right hand.

It connected with a dagger in the man's left hand, and he cursed as his opponent regained his balance much more quickly than Yuuri expected. The man pulled back on the rope, the two stuck in a deadly tug-of-war. Yuuri took a chance and kicked at the man when he pulled on the rope again, falling into it rather than pulling back. the man fell to the ground, his grip on the rope slacking, and Yuuri planted his foot firmly on the man's chest to keep him from getting up. With his sword he knocked away the dagger before it could embed itself in his leg, then drove his sword into the man's chest before he could think twice about it.

Yuuri took a moment to get his breath back, wiping some blood from his arm where the chain had nicked him. The sounds of fighting had abated, and he turned to see how his friends had fared. Phichit was finishing off one of the men, only a small gash on his forehead and some rips in his cloak. Minako was harder to find, and Yuuri began to worry until he saw a tell-tale corner of her cloak sticking out from behind one of the pillars. The lower half of a body could be seen as well.

He checked the two men he had killed to make sure they were indeed dead, then searched the bodies for gold as Phichit cleaned off his staff. 

His friend came over, whistling when he saw the rope dart. "Yuuri that's so cool! I can't believe you got to fight against one of these!" Yuuri smiled at Phichit, perhaps the only person he knew who could be excited after nearly being killed. "I'm sure you could take it, he won't mind." Phichit squealed and went to extricate the weapon from the pillar it was stuck on.

Yuuri made his way over to where Minako still sat, slightly concerned about how quiet she was. When he rounded the pillar though, his breath caught in his throat. He rushed over, "Minako, move your arm."

She wordlessly shook her head, tear tracks glistening on her cheeks. "Minako, I need you to show me how bad it is." Slowly she conceded, arm falling back to reveal a large gap in her tunic, blood oozing out of it.

He hissed through his teeth, but before he could bend down and tend to it, a voice spoke up behind him, "Sir, we have to get your friend to our-" Yuuri whipped around, fist aimed for the man's face, but before it could make contact he was grabbed from behind, arms pinned down to his sides, "-As I was saying, we have to get your friend to our sanctuary if you want her to have a fighting chance at surviving, but we need to move fast. Once the authorities get wind of this they'll be on the search for you three."

As he spoke Yuuri got a good look at the men who had appeared through the alley. There were four of them in total, all wearing the black robes of the Priests of Death. They had a reputation of helping all those in need, and took a vow against taking a life that is not meant for death. They would be safe with the priests, and Minako needed better help than he could provide.

He nodded assent, and the four men went to pick up his mentor. Silently he and Phichit followed them, weaving their way through a maze of back streets, finally coming out into the chapel district. The city had a large array of shrines, monuments, chapels and sanctuaries for all religions and gods, but it was empty in the early afternoon, most people vying towards the street vendors and the markets.

They came upon a black-stained building with ornate carvings of the moon and stars, guarded by more men in robes. It stood out among the other buildings on the street which were brightly painted in the fashion of the southern countries. They were ushered inside, following their guides down maze-like hallways. Yuuri and Phichit were told to wait in the front room while they took Minako back for treatment.

The two sat in silence, watching the wax dripping from a candle, waiting for news of their companion. His thoughts touched briefly on Victor and how he would be worried at their disappearance, until an attendant brought some rags and bowls of water to tend to their shallower wounds. When Phichit's head had been stitched up and Yuuri's sleeve was sewn back together, a short man with dark hair and sun-kissed skin came to usher them to where Minako lay.

"I gave her a strong dose of morphine to dull the pain and stitched up the gash in her abdomen. There was impressive loss of blood, but I believe she will pull through. She's a fighter, you know, even seriously drugged up she stayed conscious enough to yell at my apprentices as I stitched her up. However, she's in no condition to move. I expect to keep her here for a few weeks at the very least, and she certainly won't be up to battling hooligans for a good long while the tissue heals.”

Yuuri nodded, and rubbed fiercely at the tears that escaped his eyes. Phichit placed a hand on his shoulder, bracing him, and Yuuri turned to Minako while the doctor continued talking to Phichit. Minako was awake, though just barely. When she noticed his gaze she offered a slight dopey smile. With a voice heavy with drugs, she slurred, “Isss okay Yuuuuri, I’m gonna be fiiine. You just turn yourrr drag’n into a prince. I’ll wait herrr.” She then drifted off sleep.

Yuuri turned back to listen to the doctor who was giving Phichit instructions. “-one of our men with you on your journey, and don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone what company you keep. The servants of Death like to stay out of others’ affairs.” 

Phichit nodded thankfully and Yuuri turned back to say goodbye to Minako. They couldn’t stay in the city long; the city guards would find them or Victor would worry. Eventually one of the nurses shooed them out, and they returned to the room where they had left their supplies and weapons.

The man awaiting them was decked out in traveling gear and presented them their bags, full of food and supplies necessary for their journey. “I will be accompanying you on your adventure. My name is Otabek. I am skilled in the use of swords and am a trained hunter, and while I will not be able to replace your fallen comrade, I hope to be of some use to you.”

Yuuri spoke up, “Thank you for offering to accompany us. I assume you are aware of the circumstances of our quest. I’m sorry for dragging you out into the field though,”

“I am used to a traveling lifestyle and it’s long since time I take my leave of this place. We should hurry, the city watch is already looking for you two.”

Without further ado they took their leave of the sanctuary, leaving a letter to be sent back to Hasetsu.

\--

Victor pawed lazily at a dragonfly buzzing over his head. He was sprawled out in the clearing, surrounded by an array of wildflowers. His heightened ability to smell made the aroma almost overwhelming, but he enjoyed it all the same. If everything worked out to plan, he would be human again within the week, and these scents would no longer be available. He had to enjoy them all the same.

The sun had passed a good deal across the sky and he was beginning to wonder where his traveling companions were, but he didn’t feel the need to worry about them. He had visited the city once before, when Yakov forced him to tour the kingdom, and the streets had been pretty empty. They would have no trouble getting supplies.

Suddenly the sounds of Yuuri’s voice came through the trees and he sat up in excitement, ready to get going again. Another voice picked up, but this one was unfamiliar to him. Was it a friend? Yuuri did sound strangely sad, but not necessarily in danger? Before the group was upon him he leapt out of the clearing behind a bush and crouched down. Yuuri and Phichit emerged, along with the stranger. They clearly weren’t prisoners, but Minako didn’t seem to be following them.

“Victor, come out,” Yuuri said. “I can see you hiding back there, you’re too big to hide behind bushes.” 

Embarrassed, Victor rose up and walked out to his companions.

“ _Who is this?”_

“Victor, meet Otabek. He’ll be accompanying us in Minako’s place.” Provided Phichit.

At that Victor’s head whipped at Yuuri, “ _What happened to Minako?”_

“We were ambushed. We defeated them, but Minako got hurt. She’s staying behind to heal up. The doctors said she should be fine, but we need to keep moving. It’s public knowledge now that a dragon is traveling through the area. It’s just a matter of time before we have wanted posters everywhere.” Yuuri remained silent, staring at the ground. Victor’s heart broke for the man; he knew Yuuri and Minako were close.

He turned his attention to Otabek, the newest member. He was short, with dark hair and a no-nonsense appearance about him. He also appeared to be a member of the servants of Death, known for their loyalty and compassion to strangers. He bared his teeth for the man, surprised when he gained no reaction from him.

“ _If you’re trying to get a reaction out of me don’t bother. I was raised on tales of dragons and other fantastic beasts. You do not scare me. I am only here to help you and your friends achieve their goal. I promise to do you no harm.”_ Otabek signed at him. Viktor was surprised at their newest companion’s boldness, but he decided that Otabek was someone worthy of becoming part of their team.

Eventually, the group set off in the direction of their destination. No one was in the mood to talk, and they continued on until the sky had darkened. That night they ate a hurried dinner and went to bed, Yuuri volunteering to take the first watch. Phichit clapped him on the shoulder as he turned to leave camp. Victor settled down, watching the fire burn down to glowing embers, but sleep wouldn’t find him.

Quietly he rose on all fours and made his way through the brush, trusting his sense of smell to locate Yuuri sitting on the edges of camp. The man was sitting on a log looking out upon a small pond, tossing in little pebbles. The moonlight glinted off the surface of the water, lighting up the tear streaks that lined his cheeks. He moved towards him, but stilled when he heard a faint tune on the wind. Its melody was haunting in the darkness and a chill ran up his spine. The scene was heartbreaking and Victor felt with unwavering certainty that he had never felt so in tune with emotions, not even his own. The whistling tune broke off, replaced with a long shaky breath.

Yuuri heard the dragon before a scaled wing draped protectively around him. He looked up into the piercing blue eyes that stared softly back at him. “ _How are you?_ ” signed the dragon, tail swishing slightly in the dense grass growing around the pond.

He laughed, then signed, “ _I’m fine. I’m just worried,”_ he looked down at his lap, “We’ve been through a lot together, and Minako’s pretty strong, but she’s not very good about taking care of herself.”

The wing tightened a bit as the two sat. When the silence wore thin he looked up at Victor, who appeared to be struggling to find words. Finally the dragon signed, "I'm sorry about Minako. I'm not very good at comforting people, would you like to tell me about her?" 

"I don't know where to start, I've known her my whole life,"

"You mentioned training with her,"

He nodded, grateful for the prompt, "Minako has always been supportive of me, in her own way. When I was a child my family visited the royal palace and we got to meet some of the King's guards there," Victor's wing stiffened a bit around him, "I hadn't really picked up hunting the way Mari did, and the knights I got to meet were so kind. I fell in love with the idea of becoming one of them. My parents didn't understand, but they wanted to support me. My mother grew up with a woman who had trained with the knights for some time, so when I showed interest she wrote to her friend about coming to train me."

He wiped his nose before continuing, "The next summer Minako moved into the city and set up a small charms and potions shack. I spent a lot of time there helping out, delivering orders and putting together displays, and in return for my work she began training me in the art of swordplay."

He looked up at Victor, who seemed to be fascinated by the story. "When I learned all I could, she got me a place training under one of her old friends who had made it into the King's guard. Minako was there every step of the way. She's practically family now. I don't know what would happen if we were to lose her," he trailed off.

A large claw gently brushed at his cheek, where tears had softly fallen as he spoke, "If you don't mind my asking, how did you end up a hunter if you were on your way to joining the King's guard?"

Yuuri's voice turned sour, "It didn't work out."

They sat in silence again, watching the pond glimmer in the moonlight until Yuuri's eyes drooped and he fell asleep leaning into Victor's side.


	7. Chapter 7

The next few day’s travel went uneventful, the group mostly silent but for Phichit’s questioning of their newest member.

“Where do you come from?” he asked, chipper as ever in the morning.

“The mountains.”

“Well that’s cryptic, what city? Or province? Everybody comes from somewhere,” Otabek just gave him a pointed stare, but Phichit didn’t get the message.

“I grew up in the outskirts of the capital. My parents were the best bakers around, and I’d do all the deliveries! It’s amazing how quickly you learn a city’s streets when you spend every day running around them!” Otabek showed no sign of listening, but Phichit continued on.

“I met Yuuri here when he moved to the capital to train as a King’s guard!” Otabek perked up at that, “I offered to accompany him back home when they kicked him out!”

“Phichit, they did not ‘kick me out’! They had good reason!” Yuuri huffed.

“Nonsense, there was no reason! You’re better than all of them combined!” He and Phichit had had this argument many times in the last few years, and it always ended in disagreement.

Otabek interrupted them before they could get started though, “Yuuri, you trained with the King’s Guard?”

It was the most words he had said since introducing himself, and Yuuri had to reply, “Yes, technically I trained with them for some time. I’ve tried to keep up my training, actually. Phichit and I often spar every morning, but we haven’t for the last few days.”

Otabek actually looked excited, the emotion shocking the two of them. He knelt on one knee and bowed his head, “I would be honored if you would be willing to instruct me in the art of swordplay.”

Yuuri cleared his throat awkwardly as Phichit choked on his spit. He placed a hand on Otabek’s shoulder, ignoring Phichit who was now whooping in mirth, “Sure, I-I mean yes, I’ll train you, as long as you teach us what you know?”

Otabek nodded at him and stood back up just as Victor burst through the trees, “ _I just found the most beautiful bird, you guys have no idea!”_ he noticed everyone’s awkwardness, “ _What did I miss?_ ”

 

The clouds had broken up, revealing a magnificent rosy sunset, clouds glowing gold in the falling light. Victor watched as Otabek and Yuuri traded blades, sweat glinting off their faces and dripping down their necks. Phichit sat at the other side of camp, twirling the rope dart around in a wide arc, great craters and clumps of grass scattered around him. The clearing was silent but for the weapons. In fact, it seemed a little too quiet, no birds or animals and a suspicious lack of Camp Robbers. He strained, searching for an answer for the sudden quiet.

He heard the bow twang just as the first arrow shot past his head, sticking firmly where Phichit’s head had been a moment ago. Four masked warriors rushed out of the woods, weapons raised. Three split off towards Yuuri and Otabek, the last heading towards Phichit, leaving the dragon strangely ignored.

Yuuri and Otabek reacted immediately, running to meet the first two masked warriors just emerging from the trees. Phichit dropped the rope dart in favor of the more familiar staff as a third went to challenge him. 

Victor watched calculating, waiting for a good moment to jump in. The assailant against Yuuri swung a large battleaxe up at him, which Yuuri dodged nimbly before making his own attack against the man. Next to them, Otabek parried a two-blade onslaught.

As he looked for an opportunity to jump in, another arrow sailed over his head towards Yuuri, missing by a hair. Victor cursed and turned back towards the forest, where the archer was finally emerging. Catching the man by surprise, he body slammed the archer with his massive dragon form. The bow was flung out of the man’s grasp as he fell to the ground, and Victor brought his tail down on top if it, snapping the frame in half.

He opened his jaws wide and let out a fearsome roar, showing off his massive fangs. The man trembled under him, but still managed to pull a dagger out of its sheath at his hip. Victor winced as it scraped across his chest, making a long shallow cut in is most vulnerable spot. He reared onto his hind legs, and with one blow he sent the man flying into a small boulder that jutted out of the ground. He didn’t get back up.

Victor turned, teeth bared, just as a bloody Yuuri threw himself in front of the dragon, “Stay back! I won’t let you take him!”

Yuuri looked around, confused. The sound of fighting had stopped. An unconsious form lay where Yuuri and Otabek had been fighting. On the other side of camp Phichit was encased in a giant blue crystal that seemed to have sprung from the earth. The spell was rare, though he recognized it immediately. It couldn’t be…

“Release the Prince to us or you’ll never see another sunrise!” the apparent leader spoke, a familiar voice that he’d recognize anywhere, but it couldn’t be! The other two remaining assailants stood behind him, weapons at the ready.

Yuuri raised his sword but before he could swing it at the man Victor saw himi stagger backwards, dropping his sword and clutching at his shoulder. His hand came back holding a bloodied throwing knife.

Victor’s vision went red with fury and without thinking he leapt over Yuuri, tackling the leader and pinning him to the ground spread-eagle. His maw was wide open, ready to tear the head off of those that had hurt his Yuuri. Time seemed to freeze as the man’s head hit the ground with a thunk, sending his mask flying. Two hazel eyes met Victor’s. 

Chris and Victor stared at one another for a long moment, neither of them moving. Finally two sets of hands pushed at the dragon and he complied, stepping to the side as his old friend stood up and dusted the dirt off his clothing.

He turned back to see Yuuri’s face clouded in hurt and confusion.

“Victor, what’s going on?” Yuuri was clutching his shoulder where the arrow shaft was still sticking out. 

Victor turned to sign at Yuuri, _“They’re friends, I just need to talk to them. Can you translate?”_

Yuuri scowled in disbelief, _“They were just trying to kill us! They’re looking for a prince? What do you mean, friends?”_

_“Please, I can’t explain now. I just need to tell them to back off!”_

_“Fine”_

Chris spoke up, sword in hand, “Victor, get behind me. I’ll deal with them,” and lunged toward Yuuri again, now defenseless with his sword lying in the grass.

_No, stop!_ He screamed in his head, jumping between Chris and Yuuri, shielding them from one another. He struggled to find some way to communicate with Chris, but thankfully Phichit came to his rescue.

He hollered from the other side of camp, “He can’t speak you fools! You’ll need us to translate for you.”

Chris glared at Victor, “Is this true?”

Victor would have laughed, but the situation was precarious enough as is. He nodded enthusiastically though, and switched between pointing at Phichit and making motions with his hands. Chris gave a loud sigh and ran a had down his face, but set aside his axe anyway.

“Fine, he can translate-” Chris jabbed a finger at Phichit, “-but only if he is restrained.” Victor snarled, but Yuuri bowed his head in agreement. Victor bit his lip as roots burst from the soil and wrapped around Yuuri’s limbs, gently tethering him in place.

...

And so, nearly two hours later, Victor found himself sitting uselessly as Chris stormed off to who-knows-where while Mila tended to the wound on Yuuri’s shoulder. Otabek lay in his bed, having remained unconscious. Phichit sat by his side, occasionally checking his heart rate and breathing. Georgi had set to preparing camp for the night, setting up three more bedrolls and preparing a dinner for them all. Everyone awkwardly danced around the body of the downed soldier. He had gotten a look at the man when they checked for signs of life, but it was no one he recognized. Not that he knew many of the knights at the palace anyway, he tended to stick to himself most of the time. Feeling useless, he trampled into the woods to find a place to dig a hole. The body would likely be retrieved later, but they couldn’t leave it out in the open for anyone to come upon. 

He heard Chris before he saw him, coughing to warn Chris of his presence. His friend was beating hard on an old tree. When he saw Victor his shoulders slumped.

“Victor. I was just, ah, it doesn’t matter. What are you doing out here?”

Victor shrugged at Chris.

“Right, no talking.” The two regarded one another in silence.

Finally Chris spoke up, “You know, you really scared us. I went to get you and you were just gone! You’d never willingly leave your bed if it weren’t for me. When Yakov didn’t do anything about it we knew he had done something. Yakov wouldn’t tell me anything for two days! Two whole days!”

Chris shook his head. When he spoke again it was softer, “Yuri was so angry. He really cares about you, you know? He just doesn’t know how to show it.” Victor laughed at that.

Chris seemed to guess what Victor was wondering, “Mila’s friend knows a tracking spell that told us your general location, which is how we knew you were still alive and moving. It lead us right to you. We were so worried you’d be dead or hurt, especially when we learned you were with others.” an indefinable emotion seemed to burn within his friend, and Victor knew enough to infer what Chris wouldn’t express. Despite the eventful day he was happy to be reunited with old faces again, even though he couldn’t properly express it.

When they got back to camp everyone had been patched up and was helping around the camp. Otabek was conscious, attended to by Mila, and raised a brow at Victor as he entered the clearing.

“Prince, huh? That’s quite a big secret to keep.” Phichit fixed him with a judging stare. Victor knew a test when he saw one, and used the speech he had prepared when he first thought of telling them.

“If you had been in my place, what would you have done? There would have been a nice reward for turning me in, I couldn’t afford to trust strangers. I know I should have told you sooner but I was scared of what might happen.”

Phichit nodded and walked away, seemingly satisfied with his excuse. Yuuri, however, still adamantly ignored him. He approached his friend, “ _Yuuri, I…”_

_“Not now. We’ll talk later,”_ signed Yuuri. It was not outright rejection, but Yuuri was clearly not pleased. Victor went to help gather more wood for the fire.

 

After dinner Yuuri wandered off into the words. Victor waited a few minutes, following when no one was watching. Yuuri sat on a fresh-fallen log, and he was reminded of a similar interest under different circumstances.

“Why did you lie to us?” Yuuri’s voice was cold.

“ _A lie of omission is not a lie_ ,” Victor didn’t quite believe himself. There was no way Yuuri would either, “ _I wasn’t sure I could trust you,”_

“We helped you, sacrificed plenty for you. Minako nearly died! What exactly did we have to do to gain your trust?” Victor lowered his head in shame. “Explain yourself Victor.”

_“I can’t,_ ”

“Why not! Can’t reveal weakness to a simple commoner like myself? It must have been so hard on you, traveling with us lower-class citizens these past days.” 

Victor couldn’t prevent the hiss that escaped him, “ _It’s not like that Yuuri, you couldn’t understand!_ ”

The minute the words were out he knew they were the wrong ones. Yuuri’s shock was quickly concealed behind a blank slate and he said in a concerning monotone, “I apologize for overstepping my place Prince Nikiforov, I will not do so again.” and with that he jumped up and stalked back to camp, leaving Victor behind to cry alone.


	8. Chapter 8

The next few days Yuuri staunchly ignored and avoided Victor, easy to do since the two were never alone together. He had overheard, on multiple accounts, Phichit trying to talk some sense into Yuuri, but it hadn’t amounted to much. It seemed everyone had heard Yuuri’s side of the conversation that night and expressed their pity toward him, but he was too busy moping to pay them any heed.

 

Eventually the trail began to ascend a slight hill, and according to their maps it would take them through a valley on the other side. They decided to set up camp near the top of the incline, not wanting to spend too much time trapped in a valley. The next morning they rose early to take down camp and make a plan.

The city had not been on their map, though it shouldn’t be too hard to navigate thanks to the narrow valley it lay in. From the top of the hill they had camped near, the city was laid out before them. A large empty circle in the center was once the market district, and a maze of roads and alleys twisted through hundreds of dilapidated buildings in various states of disrepair. It had been abandoned for quite a long time, judging by the plant life that was intertwined tightly with the city. Yuuri turned back to where the others stood, waiting to make a plan.

“Looks like the river carved right through the main road in town, we’ll have to weave around through the residential district. Our best bet at finding anything of use will be to search the market area and the buildings closest to it. Thankfully they look less destroyed than the others, as far as we can see,” Chris paused to make sure everyone agreed, then carried on.

“Now as long as we don’t get turned around, we should be able to just follow the canyon to get out. The vegetation looks a lot thicker on the further half of the ruins, and it’s more likely that we’ll run into troubles there. Thankfully we have a skilled hunter with us.” He nodded at Yuuri. “Now, if there aren’t any questions, we should get going.”

Everyone nodded at that and split up to pack up the rest of camp. They donned their bags and buried the remnants of the fire, then regrouped back at the trail. He looked to Chris, who motioned for him to take the lead, then they set off. Thankfully the sun shone unobstructed in the sky, and would hopefully remain so. 

The first buildings they came to appeared to be old shacks for storing livestock. Most of the plant life that covered the buildings was familiar, though there were several specimens he did not recognize. It had been a long time since Yuuri traveled through this way last, and he certainly hadn’t been concerned with the plant life then. That particular trip had been his first time traveling with Minako. A woman had hired them to search for her son, who had went on a mercantile trip with friends and hadn’t returned. The two of them had moved much faster than they were now, and hadn’t had the time to explore their surroundings much. Now he jotted down notes for later, already planning to come back again if they got through this alive.

As they went further into the city the group fell mostly silent, with the exception of Phichit and Mila bringing up the rear, comparing their collections of scars. Mila was winning by a long shot. The sounds of wildlife scampering through the underbrush accompanied them as they wove through the city streets towards the center of the city. Every once in a while the howl of wolves rang out from the other side of the city, far enough away to not be of any concern.

Shortly after lunch time, they came out upon a large open area. A shallow swamp had formed, waist deep and filled with A small pond tilled the area. Old signs and destroyed carts stuck out of the marshy water, remnants of a time long past. A few of the buildings on the outskirts of the center were significantly less decayed than the ones they had been passing through. After a brief pause to confer, the group slowly made their way around to explore the most well-preserved.

A musty smell filled the entrance hall of what had most likely once been a prestigious inn. Half of a moldy floor plan hung by the door, and the skeletons of several chairs lay scattered throughout the room. A desk stood at the other end of the room, and Yuuri quickly made his way to it. Chris and Georgi peeled off into what might have been the kitchen, while Mila and Phichit carefully climbed the staircase. Otabek offered to stand watch at the entrance.

Nothing of interest lay on the desk or in the shelves behind, and he turned his attention to the locked drawers. The first one opened easily, the rotten wood falling apart with a good pull. The contents were useless though, several old quills and a registry, lightly gnawed on by some rodent.

The second, however, did not open so easily. Its lock held tight against his pulling. Yuuri stepped away to look for a key, but before he could a giant tail slammed down upon the desk, smashing through to the ground and sending splinters flying. The contents of the drawer and the rest of the desk spilled out across the floor. Victor was grinning uncertainly at him. Yuuri scowled and dropped down to sift through the mess.

Heavy steps descended the stairs and Phichit called out, “There’s nothing up there but guest chambers. There’s a ton of nasty blankets if anyone wants them, but not much else.” Mila followed behind, a ball of light floating above her shoulder. They joined Yuuri, looking around the rest of the room for anything useful.

Not long after, Chris and Georgi emerged with a box of preserved fruits of questionable edibleness. Overall there had been little of interest, only a few coins rescued from the desk and a highly outdated map found in the entrance hall. They were distributed along with the preserved fruits and the group headed out. 

Brief searches of a few other buildings showed the same results, and they made the call to head on out. Exiting the city before nightfall was more of a priority than whatever meager findings the ruins held.

As the evening wore on and the plant growth became thick above them, the city streets grew dim. Mila’s ball of light flitted around the group, lighting their path. The streets were wider in this part of town, but the large trees growing amongst the buildings only allowed for two to travel side-by-side.

The sound of smaller wildlife dropped away, and the silence was slightly concerning. It felt as though something were watching them, though there were no animals to be seen. They tread carefully, ready to pull out their weapons at the first sign of trouble. The carved decorations on the buildings became more and more intricate as they went along, and suddenly the path opened up to a courtyard about a quarter the size of the town center. They looked around, trying to figure out which way to go, when all of a sudden voices filled the streets as a hoard of people streamed out of the buildings around them.

The only exit was back the way they came, and it sounded as though it wouldn’t remain that way for long. Yuuri dashed back to it, trusting the others would follow. He cut down to men in his way, leaping past them without checking to see if they had died or not. He dove around a corner, with the sounds of his friends following close behind and several assailants as well. He paused at an intersection, letting the others run past, and took up the rear along with Otabek.

Chris lead them through a winding section of alleys, yet they couldn’t seem to shake those following them. They ran around a corner only to find the route blocked by a collapsed bridge. A small opening at the bottom was the only way through, just big enough for the humans to crawl through. Shouting sounded down the street behind them.

Yuuri grit his teeth, “Go, I’ll stay with Victor. We’ll find another way out.”

Chris looked desperately back at the hole, then down where the voices were rapidly drawing closer, “There’s no hope! There are too many of them!”

“We’ll be fine, just get to safety! We’ll regroup tomorrow morning, 500 meters past the city limits.”

The others nodded and climbed through the hole one at a time, then Victor smashed the rock, blocking the tunnel. Yuuri motioned for Victor to follow him as he ducked into one of the buildings, hunkering down behind the wall and motioning to stay quiet. They stared at one another as people streamed past their hideout. Shouts of anger rang out, and feet stomped back down the alley.

They waited until the street outside had mostly quieted down, then Yuuri motioned for Victor to follow him through the building they were in. They came out the back door, pausing briefly to let some voices pass, then snuck down the alley. They carefully wove around towards the city limits, dodging into buildings whenever they heard voices approaching.

As the forest came into view through the buildings the two made a run for it. They dashed through the last intersections, but voices rang out to their right. Three people jumped out in front of them, blocking their path. Victor jumped ahead and flapped his wings, sending a huge burst of wind their way and sending them to the ground. Yuuri leapt over them and the two made a dash to the protection of the forest.

Clouds filled the sky as the sun set over the forest, and a light rain began to fall as they wove through trees and bushes. People teemed after them, tearing through the underbrush yet never close enough to reach them. They dove over logs and around holes in the dirt, sloshing through rapidly-forming puddles as they increased the area between them and those following.


	9. Chapter 9

The rain was falling hard now, turning the forest floor to slippery mud under their feet. It would hide their tracks, though they would also be significantly slower. They had long since lost sight of the assailants, but the shouts of angry voices could still be heard over the downpour. Victor followed close behind him. The mud underfoot began to give way to rocks and gravel, and through the trees he saw a small cave entrance near the canyon wall, partially hidden by a hanging curtain of vines. He motioned for Victor to follow him, checking the area twice before dashing to the cave entrance. It was just big enough for them to go single file. They advanced down the tunnel until the entrance was well out of view and the cave had widened slightly before stopping.

Shrugging off his bag he said, “Wait here. We’ll set up camp until the area’s clear.” He didn’t wait for Victor’s response before heading back out to the entrance. He peered out through the carpet of vines in front of the cave entrance, listening for the sound of the bandits. Faint calls could still be heard from several directions. It would be unwise to leave the protection of the cave any time soon.

He carefully snuck out into the open and climbed up the rocky hill around the cave. They appeared to be up against the canyon wall, with the forest spread out to the left and right, and stretching as far as he could see through the heavy rain. The path was only discernible by a slight clearing in the trees, several hundred meters away from where he stood. On his way back down to the cave he stumbled on the slippery rocks. Yuuri cursed as the rocks shifted underfoot and he fell to his knees. He froze, listening as the dislodged rock tumbled down the mound, echoing off the walls of the canyon. It came to a rest and he let out a relieved breath. He regained his balance and as he straightened he caught the slight sound of yelling on the wind, coming his way.

Yuuri sprinted down the rock mound and dove into the cave, taking just a moment to ensure the vines covered the mouth of the cave enough before retreating to where Victor had constructed a fireplace, tapping his mouth twice to let him know not to talk. Victor nodded slightly and sat back on his haunches.

Yuuri leaned against the cave wall, staring at a point above Victor’s head. He was not willing to forgive the man’s betrayal if Victor refused to deny what he had done in the first place. Unfortunately, they were stuck together now, and there was no way of knowing what had become of the others. When the forest was safe again they would search for the rest of the group, but there was no way of knowing if they had been caught, or which direction they went in. They would just have to wait for morning to find out.

It didn’t take long for Yuuri to start shivering. Victor’s dragon form was not as affected by the rain, and he didn’t have soaking wet clothes keeping him chilled. The man tried to hide it from him, but Victor could see that Yuuri was struggling. He waved his hand to get Yuuri’s attention.

“ _Come over here”_ he signed. Yuuri just glared at him. A drop of water dripped down his forehead.

“ _Come on, you’re shivering. I’m much warmer than you,_ ” but Yuuri ignored him.

With a sigh Victor heaved upright and plunked down at Yuuri’s side, pulling the man in close with his wings.

Yuuri struggled but remained quiet as he hissed, “What are you doing! Let me go!”

Victor replied, “ _Warming you up. Face it, we’re stuck together until tomorrow and it’s no use you getting sick_.” Yuuri huffed but complied, settling down. His frame was still tense though, and his expression was angry.

The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the rain falling outside the cave. They were shielded from the elements, not even the wind reaching them, and Victor was thankful that Yuuri stopped shivering quickly. As the silence wore on Victor resigned himself to a long night of silence. But to his surprise, he spoke up.

“Why.” It was quiet, whispered.

“ _Why what?_ ”

“Why did you lie?”

“ _I wasn’t sure I could trust-_ “

“No, the real reason. Don’t lie to me, I can tell.”

Victor gulped, he hadn’t expected this. He thought about everything since that fateful day with Yakov, about how Yuuri had helped him, how they had given so much. He thought about what Yuuri had said, about a distant and uncaring prince, and how Hasetsu and other outlying villages had been failed by the crown. He thought about the decisions he had made, and about how his reasons changed over time.

He signed carefully, “ _At first I lied out of necessity. It only made sense. Many people would have used me for ransom, or whatever price they could get for the hated prince_.” Yuuri watched on skeptical, “ _Then I met you guys. You who helped me without question. At first I thought it was a ruse, that you would sell me out the moment I told you what you wanted. But as we planned the voyage I realized it would not matter. I planned to tell you. But then…”_

“Then the night before we left, when we talked.”

“ _I had never thought of how my actions would affect those under my rule. You spoke with such contempt. I had never been embarrassed before, but I was then. I still am. I have hurt so many with who I am. I figured you’d hate me.”_

“You should have told us. We would have helped anyway. It would have changed things, for sure, but we wouldn’t just abandon you. We’ve gotten to know one another so well, how did you still manage to think we would hate you for who you are?” Victor turned away, “I was so angry. I could tell you had been hiding something from us, but not something this big! I was angry that you had endangered us all by hiding your identity. I understand though, why you had to hide it. And I’m sorry for making you feel like you needed to keep it from us. But Victor, we trusted you with so much, it would have been nice if you returned the favor.”

Victor looked back at Yuuri, “ _If it makes it any better I was planning on telling you soon, Chris just beat me to it._ ”

Yuuri’s lips quirked up in a slight smile, but it was enough for Victor. He had missed Yuuri’s smiles, and his heart soared. He drifted off to sleep happy and hopeful for the first time in days.

When they awoke the sun had just begun to rise and the sound of pursuit had gone. The forest was calm with the sound of birds chirping and animals just waking up. The two of them tried to stomach some of the preserved fruit from the ruins, then decided to conveniently ‘forget’ the rest of them in the cave. They made their way to the main trail, then headed to the agreed-upon meeting place, wary of who or what might still be lurking in the woods.

Otabek was already waiting for them.

“The last I saw of the others they were headed into the forest to the east. I held back to take out a few, and by the time I went looking for them they were gone.” Otabek looked tired but otherwise unharmed. They settled down to wait for the others, and sure enough the rest of the group showed up not much later.

Chris, Mila, Georgi and Phichit had put enough distance between them and the city that they were able to make camp and go undisturbed for the most part through the night. Surprisingly, everyone had managed to lose the preserved food they had just picked up. Without further ado they were on their way, and were all thankful when they reached the other side of the valley.

The rest of the day passed by uneventful, and they made good time. The mountains were in view now, and it rose everyone’s spirits to be able to see their destination. The next few days passed with only a few skirmishes, news of the dragon not having reached this far out in the kingdom. The weather worsened as they neared the mountains, with regular rain showers in the afternoon and an hour of clear skies before the sun would set.

As the path started climbing, they began to speculate about what would meet them when they reached the Sorceress’ lair in two days’ time. Mila was all for an epic battle, full of magic and demons and fire. Phichit was going with a riddle, or a puzzle of some sorts. Georgi mentioned she might just turn him back. Victor desperately hoped he was right.

As they set up camp for possibly the last time, the air buzzed with excitement and tension. They sat around the fire and went over last-minute strategies. The plan was to get a lay of the sorceress’ lair, then approach her in a friendly manner first, only attacking as a last resort. It would be useless to plan any further, as anything else would just be based on speculation.

Everyone retired to bed early, intent on getting a full night of sleep before the big day. Victor offered to take the first watch, and not long after settling in, Yuuri joined him. They sat staring at the fire for some time before either of them spoke.

“Victor, in case things go south tomorrow, I just want you to know I don’t regret any of it. Helping you I mean. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and it’s been the journey of a lifetime.”

Victor smiled at Yuuri, bittersweet. He didn’t like the idea that things would go wrong, and definitely not the insinuation that Yuuri would die. However, it was no use ignoring the possibility. He shook his head, “ _But we could get out of it fine too, maybe Georgi’s right and she’ll just give me my human form back.”_

Yuuri looked at him incredulously, “Even if she does, what then? You’ll go back to ruling the empire and I’ll return to Hasetsu. That is, if Minami hasn’t taken over the place yet.” They both chuckled. It sounded forced and they lapsed back into silence again.

The fire slowly faded down to embers, still warm as a furnace without the flame. The stars twinkled above, comforting and familiar. Despite how much had changed over the ordeal, the stars never changed. It was humbling to think that the matters of his world had no affect on the stars and the worlds beyond.

He gazed back at Yuuri, who was looking incredibly exhausted as he stared at the dying embers. Victor softly tapped his shoulder, “ _Yuuri, there’s something I have to tell you,_ ”

“Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say if we both lived,” The words staggered Victor, and he floundered while Yuuri stood up and turned away. “Goodnight Victor.”

He signed out desperately toward the fading shadow, the words he had been fighting to say, “ _I love you_!” But Yuuri was gone, and there was no way of knowing if he had seen. Victor hung his head and stared at the dead fire for hours until he was relieved of watch.


	10. Chapter 10

They woke the next morning and had a brief meal before heading out. No one had much of an appetite. The day was sunny, though they could see rainclouds off in the distance. The last stretch to where the sorceress’ lair should be was steep and exhausting, but they had been hiking for a long time and were used to it.

The trail ended just where it was expected to, a small clearing visible through the trees. Yuuri and Phichit snuck ahead to get a good look at the area, then came back to report. There was no sign of the sorceress and the clearing was not very large, with an old well in the middle of it. Three sides of the clearing were lined by a high rock wall, impossible to climb. Dead grass and brown vines filled the clearing, snaking up the sides of the well and the walls of rock. The path they were on was the only way in or out of the clearing. The only thing to do was to go in and hope it was the right place.

They filtered into the clearing, Victor entering last. As soon as he walked in, a sweet wind blew through the field and a burst of light temporarily blinded him. Victor opened his eyes to see the clearing had changed. The field was covered in thick layers of flowers of all colors and the once-dead foliage was so bright it almost hurt. And sitting at the edge of the well was the sorceress, bright white gown gleaming in the light. It was quite the spectacle.

“Victor, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance again.” His companions stood speechless.

“ _I’ve come to get returned to my human form, as per the agreement.”_

Yuuri started to translate but the sorceress waved her hand, “I understand him just fine.” She turned her attention back to Victor, “And what exactly were our terms, do you recall?”

“ _You would turn me back when I got to you. Here I am,”_ the pitying expression on the sorceress’ face was not encouraging.

“Our agreement was that I would change you back when you were ready, when you had learned your lesson. So tell me Victor, what have you learned?”

He looked at his traveling companions, who were looking back and forth between the two of them. He wasn’t prepared for this. Yakov had asked him the same question, and he still didn’t know what to say. However, he had to give it a shot, “ _I’ve traveled across the kingdom, to parts I’ve never seen, met people I never expected to meet. I have learned more about the kingdom than I did in all my studies and I am ready to be a good leader. Please return me to my form,_ ”

He looked expectantly at the sorceress, who began to laugh. His friends joined in, uncertainly, unsure of what to do. The sorceress stood up, still laughing, “Oh Victor, you think we wanted you to travel the kingdom? Meet some friends, have a laugh?” her laugh grew more sinister and a strong wind blew through the clearing. The sunlight faded until the clearing was sheathed in shadows. “I’m afraid it’s just not that simple,” her hair whipped in the wind, haloing her face as she lifted off the ground. Rain suddenly started pounding down on them.

“ _What is it then! What was I supposed to learn!_ ” He was back where it had all started again, a dangerous guessing game was all it had come down to and he remained horribly unprepared.

Rather than answering the sorceress raised her hands, “You’d better think hard Victor, you’re all out of chances.”

Vines ripped out of the ground, wrapping tight around his traveling companions and pulling them, crumpled, to the ground. His friends were unable to move, weapons secured tight against them or fallen to the ground. Yuuri ripped an arm free, only for two more vines to take its place. Chris roared, straining against his tethers. The sorceress was not done however. She summoned a dagger out of nowhere, sending it floating through the air towards the party.

“Which one shall fall first? Your choice Victor,”

The dragon shook his head, an unwarranted tear sneaking down his cheek.

“Fine then, I’ll pick.”

The dagger whipped back and forth down the line of humans.

“Shall it be the mage, longing for her girl back home?” Mila sobbed as the dagger jabbed towards her.

It jerked away before striking, “Or shall it be the life-long friend, loyal despite all your mistakes.”

When Chris showed no reaction she moved on, “Or should we kill the mysterious wanderer, no family or homeland to his name?” Otabek stared back at her, impossible to read.

The blade swung once again, pointing at Yuuri, “Why don’t we kill this one, who helped you out first, brought you back to life. It’s only a fair exchange afterall,” the blade jerked forward again and Victor lunged, swatting it out of the air with a paw. The sting of the blade biting into him was insignificant.

However, it seemed to be the wrong move. “I see, you’re protecting him. Perhaps this will motivate you,” she raised her hand up into the air, making a fist. Beside him, the vines holding Yuuri dropped away and he flew forwards, as though attached to an invisible tether. His sword clattered to the ground and he knelt between Victor and the sorceress.

“ _Please, stop!_ ” Victor begged, “ _I’ll do anything!_ ” he was sobbing, mind blank with terror at losing Yuuri and the others.

“I’m done playing games Victor, it’s time to end this.” She raised her hand, a ball of energy growing in the palm of her hand. Victor moved without thinking, pouncing on the man before him. He wrapped his form around Yuuri, shielding him from the deadly blow and braced for impact.

But nothing happened. He cracked an eye to see the sorceress smiling down at him, quite a drastic change from the fearsome expression she had on before.

“Victor, perhaps you do not know how to put it into words, but I see you have changed. Your loyalty to those you care for is admirable, and your willingness to give your life for those you love is a clear sign of how you have grown. I leave you to live your life as you see fit, and don’t give Yakov too hard a time, he was not in control of himself at the time.” With that she turned and disappeared. The clearing went back to the way it had looked before, and the rainclouds disappeared, replaced with a bright sunlight.

Victor untangled himself from Yuuri and stood up on four legs, only to stumble back down to the ground. He peered up at the sunny sky and raised a paw, only to see it had been returned back to a normal hand. Looking down, the rest of his body was in order too. He sat up, grabbing his head in his hands and running his fingers through his hair. Victor had forgotten what it felt like to have long hair. He looked at Yuuri, who had also sat up and stared at him, then the two burst out into loud carefree laughter.

 

They had quickly charged back down the mountain, significantly faster than on their way up. They had traveled back the way they came, skirting around the ruins rather than go through, and made much better time now they didn’t have to hide a dragon. They encountered several patrols searching for the prince, and which provided them with horses to ride, making their journey all the faster.

Eventually though, the time came to split up. They all gave tearful goodbyes and well-wishes, and promises to visit in the future. Otabek would walk with Yuuri and Phichit, interested in visiting Hasetsu, while the rest would ride for the castle. Victor didn’t know what to say. He knew they would be splitting up eventually, but it hadn’t seemed real until Yuuri was standing there, bag over his shoulder, about to head off to his own corner of the kingdom.

“Well, I guess this is it.” Victor said.

“Yes, I suppose so.” Victor looked down, unable to watch Yuuri leave.

Arms encircled him and a faint kiss brushed his cheek, and left just as quickly. He looked up just in time to watch Yuuri wave, then turn back to follow Phichit. He watched them go until they were no longer visible, then turned to his men, “Let’s go. If we ride hard we can be there by dark.” And with that they rode off, leaving the intersection in the road behind in the dust.


	11. Chapter 11

Otabek and Yuuri resumed their morning skirmishes, and Phichit tried to keep him occupied while traveling, but every time the conversation died down his thoughts kept getting pulled back to Victor. He should be happy for the prince, human once again, and should look forward to going home, but all he felt was a longing to be going in the other direction. He kept the feeling to himself however.

Phichit had only confronted him about it once, “Yuuri, that was the lamest farewell I’ve ever seen. You just let him walk away!”

“He has duties Phichit, I can’t just steal him away from the rest of the world,”

Phichit rolled his eyes, “I still think you should turn around and go after him, it’s not every day a king falls in love with you,”

Yuuri silently agreed, however much he denied it out loud, “He’s a prince, not a king. And he’s not in love with me! Can we please not talk about this anymore?”

“He will be someday,” Phichit had muttered, though he hadn’t brought it back up again.

 

The reunion with Minako was wonderful. She came out to meet the three of them with a smile on her face and a walking cane in her hand. She still looked more frail and flushed than usual, and walking was still an exertion, but she had improved by leaps and bounds since they left her before. They stayed in the city for a day before setting off again with a caravan going in that direction.

Minako enjoyed hearing the tales they told of their journey, laughing at the right moments and expressing disappointment she hadn’t been able to see the transition herself. When they mentioned their goodbye several days before she gave Yuuri a suspicious look which he ignored. They left the caravan as it passed the trail for Hasetsu, only two day’s walk from home with Minako. They entered the city around sunset, making their way to the Katsuki household.

Yuuri’s parents were overjoyed to see them, taking great interest in their tale over a bowl of Katsudon. The Katsukis set them up with rooms for the night, insisting they stay for one night before Yuuri left for his cottage. The next morning Otabek and Phichit rose early with him and set off into the woods, down the familiar path they had walked hundreds of times. Despite all they had gone through, the forest remained the same but for the change in season.

Minami rushed out of the barn to greet them as they neared, “Yuuri! It’s so good to see you! What happened? Some guy showed up a day ago looking for you? He’s just been hanging out in the cottage, I didn’t know how to ask him to leave.”

Yuuri’s breath caught in his throat and he flung his pack off, taking two steps at a time up the porch. He flung open the door and stared. Sitting at the table was Victor, mug in his hands and feet up on a chair.

“Hello Yuuri,” he flung himself into Victor’s arms, laughing despite himself.

He pulled away from the embrace just enough to look at him, “What are you doing here Victor? You’re supposed to be at the castle by now!”

Victor smiled up at him, “I was gone for long enough, a few days more shouldn’t make much of a difference.”

“Victor…”

The man sighed, pulling back to hold both of Yuuri’s hands in his, “I know, I just couldn’t leave things like that. Couldn’t leave you like that. We’ve been through so much in the last few weeks. And it was just that, a couple weeks, so I understand if it’s a little premature. But Yuuri Katsuki, I would like the chance to get to know you better, if it’s okay with you?”

“Victor, what do you mean? You can’t just leave your duty to the crown, and I’m a nobody outside of Hasetsu.” His emotions were warring with his common sense. No matter how much he wanted to do what Victor was implying, it just wasn’t a sacrifice he could make.

“Would you be willing to try to figure something out? Minami seems to have done a good job in your place, and I hear there’s a job opening at the castle for a fighting instructor if you’re interested,”

“Victor, I’m pretty sure you can’t do that,” Yuuri chided.

“I’m the prince! I can do what I want!” he looked so adorably impetulant that Yuuri had to laugh at him. Victor cupped his face as he laughed, “What? Stop laughing at me! I’m serious you know,”

Yuuri, overflowing with love for his ridiculous prince, pulled Victor up to meet him, their lips meeting in the middle for a tender kiss. It was soft and sweet, and far too short for his liking, as Victor pulled away with a smirk on his face, “I guess I’ll take that as a yes?”

Phichit and Minami whooped from the doorway, and Yuuri’s cheeks flared red, “I guess so,” Victor pulled him in again for another kiss and Yuuri thought to himself he’d take some time to get used to it, but he couldn’t wait for the chance. Life in the capital would be challenging to get used to, but his path had taken him this far. It would be a shame not to see where it would take them next.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this, I've never written a story that was so long before! It was quite the adventure!


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